Despite efforts to reduce the jail population at Rikers Island, New Yorkers continue to be jailed on non-criminal technical parole violations – such as missing curfew or living at alternate addresses – needlessly subjecting a growing number of Legal Aid clients and others to the deadly virus.

Legal Aid client Earl Russell – remanded to the shelter system in 2018 as part of his parole – was among nearly 300 people returned to virus-stricken city jails for low-level infractions after he moved back in with his family due to the intolerable conditions of life at the shelter.

“It was scary. A lot of the corrections officers aren’t wearing masks,” Mr. Russell told The New York Times. “Ninety percent of inmates weren’t wearing masks. Then you’re shackled next to people when you are transferred,’’ he said. “Beds were less than a pinkie apart. Sleeping, the guy beneath me, my foot could have kicked his head.”

The Legal Aid Society eventually secured Mr. Russell’s release.